Jasmine Mei, Period 6, 10/05/23

Jasmine Mei 

Period 6 

10/05/23

Modern Mythology 2024

Literacy & Learning 

Today in class I was introduced to the story of Daedalus and Icarus. To be quite honest, I’m not as big on mythology as some of my peers may be; ironic, considering the course I’m currently writing this blog for. Though I’m vaguely familiar with the tale, today I was able to truly examine and dissect the text, viewing various differing interpretations from both my classmates and people of the past. Upon looking over the Landscape with the Fall of Icarus by Pieter Bruegel, my group and I concluded that there were two ways to interpret the piece. In both interpretations, Icarus has fallen into the water and no one is helping him. However, the question was posed — did no one notice Icarus in the first place or did they glance at him and choose not to do anything? When considering the second viewpoint, I honestly thought it was quite fair in a sense that no one was helping him. Icarus was warned not to fly too close to the sun for the glue of his wings will melt and he will ultimately fall. Not listening to his elders, Icarus flew too high anyways and thus the glue melted, as was precautioned, and he fell into the ocean as depicted in Bruegel’s painting. The fact that the interpretation of the story is so subjective shows that it can best be read through the reader response theory since the lessons eluded are based on the reader’s beliefs and philosophies. When examining my opinion, one can tell that I live by the saying “consequences of your own actions”. However, I can’t help but contradict myself when applying the concept of Daedalus and Icarus to modern day situations. If I were to encounter an old woman in a vulnerable situation, I would be inclined to help her. Though I assume it changes things when I don’t know the context behind the woman’s situation. That only makes me wonder however, do the other people in the image know the context of Icarus’s situation? Learning about Daedalus and Icarus has made me challenge my own perception of things — what I thought I concretely believed in may not apply to me anymore. Though I’m not necessarily abandoning the way I approach things, this lesson has definitely made me view things in a different light. I feel extremely appreciative to be able to consider so many sides of a single story and be less “close minded”, in a sense. Additionally, I’ve recently discovered that I am able to apply my learnings from this class to my natural train of thought. I find that I’ve unknowingly incorporated the different critical lenses into everyday life. When reading the story of Daedalus and Icarus, I was able to connect that to the reader's response theory. The other day when conversing with friends at lunch, I pointed out that one of them had subconsciously used a critical theory without realizing. It’s moments like that in which it feels like a lightbulb goes off in my head, being able to apply concepts from class to everyday life.